


Laven Week 2015

by errantknightess



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Humor, Laven Week, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-04-13 12:53:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4522818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/errantknightess/pseuds/errantknightess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Filled prompts for days 2-7, not connected to one another. Rated M for Day 6.<br/>Day 2 - Future: In which two dorks try their hand at fortune-telling.<br/>Day 3 - Shattered: In which Komui's coffee mug suffers.<br/>Day 4 - A moment in time: In which Allen makes a new friend while stuck in the traffic.<br/>Day 5 - Enthusiasm: In which two dorks go shopping for paint before moving in together.<br/>Day 6 - Summer haze: In which nothing happens except lazy lakeside make-outs.<br/>Day 7 - Introduction: In which Lavi meets Allen's cat and neither of them is happy about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Future

Even with his head in the dusty depths of the closet, Allen could still hear the loud thud and a string of curses announcing that his flatmate somehow managed to get through the front door.

“Careful, Lavi!” Allen called, not bothering to look up and check on his friend. “I put some boxes out in the hallway.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Lavi leaned against the doorframe, rubbing his shin and looking around Allen’s bedroom with considerable confusion. “What’s with the barricade? Is Two-Spots coming over?”

Allen emerged from the closet, pulling a face at the mention of his probation officer.

“I could set up bear traps in the staircase and that still wouldn’t stop him. No, he’s not coming today. I just wanted to throw out some of this old stuff.” He motioned at the mess of odds and ends spilling from cardboard boxes and swept up in neat little piles on the floor.

Lavi whistled.

“Just how big _is_ your closet? Are you sure you’re not plundering Narnia?”

“To tell you the truth, I haven’t touched it in ages.” Allen scratched his cheek in embarrassment. “Some of these things have been here since before Cross moved out.”

“And you’re just dumping ’em out? What if he wants to come back for them some day? If I ever tried to touch any of my old man’s stuff, he’d dropkick me right outta the window.”

“Cross is not coming back for them,” Allen leaned into the closet again, his voice rumbling against the wooden sides. “Whatever he needed, he had already taken with him. Besides, I'm not throwing _his_ stuff away. Just broken things and old newspapers. Most of this mess is mine.”

“Wow, how did you manage to accumulate so much junk in your short life?” Lavi laughed, venturing deeper into the room and raking a pile of action figures aside with his foot. Allen’s head shot out of the closet, almost bumping against the shelf.

“Please don’t touch that. I left you some books over there, take a look and see if you want to keep anything, okay?”

“Oookay,” Lavi chirped, maneuvering across the room to Allen’s desk. He rummaged through the stacks of old handbooks and comics, setting some of them aside for himself, until a thin yellow booklet caught his attention.

“ _Divination for Dummies_?” Lavi read the title aloud and waved the book at Allen. “Why do you have this?”

“Oh?” Allen pulled out of the closet again, his eyebrows knitted together. “That’s not mine. Cross must have left it here.”

“Cross was into this sort of stuff? Never would have guessed.”

“Not him, I bet it’s one of his girlfriends’. They’d often forget their things at our place. Though mostly clothes.”

“So Cross dated one of those New Age freaks or something? Cool!” Lavi eyed the book with amusement and cracked it open on a random page. “Want me to tell your fortune from tea leaves?”

“We only have teabags,” Allen replied, turning back to take the last armful of aged office supplies from the emptied closet.

“Bummer.” Lavi turned a couple of pages. “How about wooden sticks?”

“There should be some toothpicks in the kitchen,” Allen mumbled, not really paying attention as he kneeled on the floor with a piece of paper to sort his massive haul of pens into working and dried-up. It wasn’t until Lavi stepped over him and plopped down by his side with a packet of toothpicks that Allen finally raised his head to look at him.

“Are you serious?”

“Sure am.” Lavi grinned, propping the yellow book open and spilling the toothpicks before them. Allen winced.

“I’m not putting these in my mouth later.”

“No one’s asking you to. Come on, let’s see what awaits us.”

“Cleaning,” Allen sighed, peering at the floor. “Because some idiot dropped toothpicks on my carpet.”

“Spoilsport.” Lavi elbowed him lightly in the side. “Look, these here make parallel lines. That means… _Your plans will work out_. Isn’t that great?”

Allen gave the scattered toothpicks a skeptical look.

“ _Most_ of these are parallel to each other, Lavi.”

“Well, that just means all plans are going to work out _really_ well, right?” Lavi patted him on the shoulder, undeterred.

“What plans?” Allen prodded, a curious edge to his voice.

Lavi shrugged.

“I dunno. Plans. Whatever you may have.”

“Do _you_ have any?”

“Not really sure at the moment.” Lavi rubbed the back of his neck. “Guess I’m gonna finish my training and give the old man a hand at work. Probably. What about you?” he asked quickly, and Allen barely stopped himself from raising his eyebrows. Normally, Lavi would babble about his job with unwavering enthusiasm; seeing him dance around the question and change the subject like that was a first.

“I’m probably going to go on like this.” Allen shrugged. “I’m pretty much realizing my plans right now, so I want to continue on this path.”

“See? The toothpicks were right,” Lavi chuckled. “Now let’s look here... That’s an X, clearly… Meaning… _Obstacles on your way_. So, there will be some problems, but in the end it’s gonna be fine.”

“Isn’t that what it’s _usually_ like?” Allen remarked. “I mean, that’s the most general truism I’ve ever heard.”

“Okay, so how about this? A triangle, pointing downwards: _Loss of something dear_.”

“Actually, it looks more like an A to me,” Allen tilted his head with a frown. “Is there an A somewhere there?”

“A, A, A…” Lavi scanned the cheat sheet. “I don’t... Oh yeah, got it: _A long travel_. Maybe you’ll lose something and set out in an epic journey to get it back.”

“Or maybe we’ll go on vacation and lose our luggage,” Allen snorted. “That’s just nonsense. Don’t you have anything better in there? Like reading cards?”

“Forget it!” Lavi scoffed, leafing through the book again. “You’re not going anywhere near a card deck. Oh hey, here’s a fun one! Palm reading. Sounds more valid?”

“As much as any of that can be valid.” Allen rolled his eyes. “All right, let’s give it a shot. Just to prove to you how absurd it is.”

“Sweet.” Lavi cracked his knuckles. “Rightie of leftie?”

“What do politics have to do with that?” Allen shot him a puzzled glance. Lavi looked back at him with equal confusion before slapping his forehead.

“Damn, stupid British slang. I don’t give a hoot about your leanings. Which hand is your dominant?”

“Oh. Actually, I’m ambidextrous. But I guess you’ll have it easier with this one,” Allen said, holding out his right hand and automatically tucking the other in his pocket. He caught Lavi’s eye darting off to it for a second and slowly pulled it back out, reddish fingers with blackened nails resting on the carpet again. They’ve been through this so many times. He didn’t have to hide anything.

Allen barely held back a shudder when Lavi took his hand and brought it up to his face to inspect it. His fingers skimmed over Allen’s skin, tracing a line from the base of his wrist to the middle of his palm, between the index finger and the thumb.

“Let's start with the life line. What can I say… It’s… whoa, it’s very shredded. More like a life mesh. And it kinda forks in the middle... Both of which mean _difficulties and unexpected changes in your path_.” Lavi’s glance bounced between Allen’s hand and the book. “And there are, like, super tiny lines branching off downwards, that’s _loss, sadness and money problems_. Man, you don’t have an easy life, huh.”

“Tell me about it,” Allen sighed. “But I know all that already. What else do you see?”

“Well, next up is the head line. But I’m not sure which one it is.” Lavi leaned closer and ran his thumb over Allen’s palm, gently pulling his skin taut. “It looks like you’ve got two of them. What the hell? There’s nothing here about double head lines,” he grumbled. “Okay, let’s just skip it. Now, the heart line! Ready to hear about your love life?” he turned to Allen with a teasing smile.

Allen’s hand twitched.

“My love life doesn’t _exist_. I’ll be surprised if you even find that line at all.”

“Nah, it’s here all right.” Lavi stroke the curved groove beneath Allen’s fingers. “Let’s see…You’re warm, but reserved… Tend to put other people’s needs first… Oh, and this marking right here says you fancy redheads.”

“ _No, it doesn’t_!”

“I’m messing with ya,” Lavi laughed. “Actually it says you’re easily embarrassed,” he added with a smug grin, watching Allen’s cheeks flush bright red.

“I’m pretty sure it doesn’t say that, either,” Allen said slowly, barely controlling his voice. His hand felt hot and sweaty under Lavi’s touch, but neither of them pulled away. Lavi fixed his eye on the book, fingertips tickling Allen’s skin as he traced the lines and bumps with an absent expression. Finally, he let Allen’s hand slide from his grip.

“Okay, my turn now,” he announced, holding his own hand out to Allen.

Allen looked at it uncertainly.

“I’m not sure I know how.”

“You can do it. This book is supposed to be for dummies, remember?”

“All right, I’ll try. But don’t expect much.” Reluctantly, Allen cupped Lavi’s palm in his right hand and leaned over it to take a look. Lavi helpfully pushed the yellow booklet closer to him.

“Hmmmm.” Allen reached with his other hand to trace the first line, black fingernail hovering right over the skin. “Your life line is doubled. It says here that it can indicate a great stamina, a soulmate, or a double life.”

“Aww, you got me,” Lavi groaned playfully. “I’m actually a secret agent. I spy on you when you’re asleep.”

“I hope to God I don’t drool.” Allen smirked. “That would make an embarrassing report.”

“I _only_ report the embarrassing things.”

“Oh, look, this tiny branching right here says you’re about to be smacked on the head.”

“You said you didn’t believe in these things! Wouldn’t it just prove me right if that happened?”

“I’d still get the satisfaction,” Allen muttered, trying his best to hold his finger still and away from Lavi’s hand. “Anyway, your head line is really long and deep, that means you’re a realistic thinker and have a good memory. But it’s also forked, so there’s going to be some kind of a change in the way you think… And I can’t see your heart line, that’s strange.”

“What does that mean?” Lavi craned his neck to take a look at the booklet.

“Maybe you don’t have a heart,” Allen deadpanned. “No, wait, here it is. Wow, it’s short. And straight. That means you don’t let yourself be driven by emotions… Yeah, right. But it’s also very deep, so your feelings tend to be strong and stable.” He looked up at Lavi with resignation. “Do you seriously believe all that?”

“Maybe not every bit, but… it’s surprisingly accurate at times, you know?” Lavi averted his eye, his hand fidgeting in Allen’s. “Makes it kinda hard to think it’s _complete_ bullshit.”

“I still don’t buy it.” Allen shook his head. “There’s no way these things are written anywhere. It’s only up to you what your life is going to be.”

“Like so?” Lavi reached for one of the pens lying forgotten on the floor and dragged it across Allen’s hand before Allen could protest. “See? Now your life line is long and clear. You’re gonna have a good, healthy life,” he said, patting the inky mark with a grin.

Allen laughed, closing his hand to lightly squeeze Lavi’s fingers.

“Thanks for making my life better, Lavi.”

“Anytime.”


	2. Shattered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured that given the prompt, today will be an angstfest, so here's some pure crack to even it out a bit.

_Whoops_ was not a word anyone wanted to hear in Komui’s office, a messy room doubling as storage space for unfinished experiments, suspicious contraptions and untested mixtures with unexpected side effects, where one false move among the piles of documents could mean very, very bad news.

“Whoops,” Allen and Lavi gasped in unison as something fell from their supervisor’s desk and shattered on the paper-strewn floor.

“Let’s hope it wasn’t anything important,” Allen sighed, crouching to pick up the pieces.

And he froze.

“What is it?” Lavi asked, watching Allen’s face twitch and turn almost as white as his hair. “What the hell was in that cup _this_ time?”

“It’s not what’s in the cup, Lavi.” Allen’s voice came out weak and squeaky. “It’s the _cup_.” He held up two shards with bits of the unmistakable crazy-eyed rabbit on the glaze.

“You’re kidding,” Lavi said slowly, his eye growing wide. “Komui loves that pink monstrosity. He’ll have a breakdown.”

“I know. Wasn’t this a gift from Lenalee?” Allen pressed the pieces together, trying to match them like a hopeless jigsaw puzzle.

“Yup, that’s it. He’s gonna kill you.” Lavi offered him a pitying pat on the shoulder. “He’d sent his robots to hunt people down for _less_. You’re officially a goner. I’m glad I got to know ya.”

“Wait, why _me_?” Allen burst out, a look of terrified indignation on his face. “ _You’re_ the one who broke it!”

“No way, I didn’t! And even if I did, you wouldn’t rat me out!”

“Let’s just pretend we’ve never even been here.” Allen jumped to his legs and launched himself at the desk to snatch the mission reports they put there not a minute earlier. “We can always stop by to leave these some other time.”

“Yeah, when they won’t hint Komui that we broke his precious coffee mug.” Lavi poked the shards with his foot. “Come on, let’s get out of here before someone—”

“Do you guys need something?”

Allen and Lavi flinched as Reever’s voice came from behind a pile of books, followed by the rest of Reever with a huge cardboard box in his arms. He looked at them over its edge, sizing them up with tired eyes.

“No, not at all,” Allen said quickly, shooting the scientist his most innocent smile. “We’re just… Leaving our reports,” he added, nervously waving the wad of paper in his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lavi’s arm twitch up in a barely restrained facepalm.

“All right,” Reever yawned and shuffled past them, swaying slightly under the weight of his box. As soon as he was out of the room and out of earshot, Lavi’s hand connected with his forehead with a loud slap.

“Great, now we have to leave the only proof we were here _and_ we have a witness. What do we do?”

“There’s only one thing we _can_ do now.” Allen circled the desk and fell to his knees.

“You’re gonna pray? You think that will help us?”

“No, Lavi. We’re going to help ourselves.” Allen’s hands started to wander over the floor at a nearly inhuman speed. “We need to fix it somehow. Hurry up, help me pick up these pieces.”

“Right, good thinking.” Lavi’s eye gleamed with determination as he crouched next to Allen to collect the sad remains of the mug. They thrust them in their pockets and slipped out of the office before anyone else happened by.

“Let’s find a storage closet or something like that,” Allen whispered, scanning the corridor as they were about to turn a corner. “They must keep their office supplies somewhere, I’m sure we can find some glue there.”

“I know just the right place.” Lavi grabbed Allen’s elbow and dragged him along, trying to walk quickly without making much noise.

They weaved their way through the empty halls and staircases, quietly clinking the shards in their pockets, until finally Lavi stopped before a low door on one of the upper floors. He looked around just in case and turned the knob. The door creaked open.

“Get in here,” Lavi urged, lightly pushing Allen into the dusty darkness. He followed closely behind and shut the door, taking one last peek outside at the empty corridor.

The storeroom smelled of turpentine and mold. Allen inched forward in the narrow space, shoulders grazing along rows of what he guessed was shelves or bookcases. He hoped he wouldn’t end up knocking yet another vital fragile thing off them.

“I can’t see anything,” he grumbled as he stubbed his toe on _something_ for the third time, stumbling and making Lavi bump into him.

“Hang on.” Lavi wriggled behind him, poking Allen and everything around them with his elbows. Finally, there was a quiet rasp and the storeroom was filled with a dim, soft light.

“Watch out now, I don’t wanna burn your hair,” Lavi warned as Allen turned around to shoot an incredulous look at the candle in his hand.

“Where did you get that?”

“From my pocket.”

“Why do you carry candles in your pockets?”

“For situations like this.” Lavi shrugged, making the flame waver. “Now come on, let’s find that glue.”

They shuffled along the shelves, peering at their contents in the unsteady light. Most of the bottles and boxes weren’t labeled, and Allen had enough experience with the Order’s science department to know they shouldn’t touch them. He bent to take a look at the lower shelves while Lavi rose on tiptoes and craned his neck to scan the upper ones, leaning on Allen’s back to keep his balance.

“I think I got it.” Allen straightened himself suddenly and held up a huge jar with a tattered sticker on the lid. It read “GLUE”, or at least so he hoped.

“Awesome.” Lavi patted him on the shoulder and nudged forward. “Bring it over there.”

The rows of shelves ended about two steps before the wall, providing a bit more space on both sides of the narrow room. Allen and Lavi pushed their way to this small niche and sat down on the floor; it was far from comfortable, but they had to make do with their knees poking and heads bumping together every now and then as they settled and pulled the broken pieces of Komui’s mug ouf of their pockets.

“This is going to be harder than I thought.” Allen scratched his chin, moving the shards around. They didn’t look like they were ever a part of the same mug at all.

“Relax.” Lavi dripped some wax onto the floor and stuck his candle firmly upright in the puddle. “The most important thing is to have all the bits at hand. We’ll figure it out eventually.”

“If you say so…” Allen picked up two smooth, curved shards and pressed them together. They looked similar, but didn’t match at all.

“You’re holding them wrong,” Lavi plucked one of the pieces from Allen’s hand, turned it around and gave it back to him.

“Right.” Allen looked down at the perfect handle that the pieces now formed. “Can you give me some glue?”

“Sure.” Lavi opened the jar and dabbed his finger in the gooey substance. As soon as he smeared it on the edge of one shard, Allen quickly put the pieces back together and set them aside.

“See? Wasn't that hard. What’s next?” Lavi poked around the pieces, trying to find more matching ones.

“Careful, you’re getting glue on them.” Allen swatted his hand lightly and picked another pair. “This looks like the bottom. But there’s something missing.”

“Maybe this will fit?” Lavi fished out a small triangular bit and held it up to Allen’s, completing the circle. “Perfect, let me get that.” Another dab, another smear of glue.

“Wait! You’re doing it all wrong! Can’t you see how crooked it is?” Allen pushed Lavi’s hand away and straightened the pieces. “I’ll do it, you just put the glue on, all right?”

“Okay,” Lavi huffed, carefully transferring the sticky goo from his finger onto the shards. They went on like this for a while, soon falling into a steady pace.

“You’re good at this,” Allen noticed, watching Lavi pick out tiny pieces from the dwindling pile and hold them up to the nearly-finished mug to check if they would fit. They always did.

“I guess it’s a bookman thing.” Lavi tapped at his temple with a small laugh and yelped as his glue-coated fingers caught on his hair. “You’re really good at putting them together, too.”

“Dexterous fingers are essential for cheating in poker.” Allen’s smile looked _really_ unsettling in the flickering light of the candle. “I’m glad they can be of use here as well.”

“We make quite a team, don’t we?”

Allen just nodded, too focused on putting the last part of the mug into place. He pressed the piece lightly and set the mug on the floor between them to behold.

“Sweet! Looks like new.” Lavi grinned and snatched Allen’s hand in a tight grip, shaking it furiously. “Great job, partner! It’s been a pleasure working with ya!”

“We’re only halfway there. We still need to get it back on Komui’s desk before he notices.”

“Yeah, but that’s just a piece of cake now.” Lavi freed his candle from the puddle of wax and tugged Allen to his feet. “The man’s asleep most of the time. Easy-peasy.”

“I hope you’re right.” Allen turned his head, a little startled at how close they came to each other in the narrow space. He bent down quickly to grab the mug and headed for the door with Lavi right at his heels. “And I hope he hadn’t _already_ noticed it’s missing… But I think we would be hearing something if he had.”

“Ya think?”

“Yes. You know, wailing, screaming, sounds of destruction and… Lavi?”

“What?”

“You can let go of my hand now.”

“You sure? The candle’s about to go out. Aren’t you afraid of the dark?”

“I’m more afraid that we’ll knock these shelves down on our heads. Come on now.”

“I can’t.”

“Lavi, we don’t have time for—”

“No, Allen, I really can’t. Look.” Lavi reached out to bring their hands in front of Allen. He let them hang loosely, but Allen’s hand still didn’t drop out of his fingers. Allen let out a groan.

“You glued us together!”

“Not on purpose!” Lavi waved his hand, making Allen hit his elbow on the shelf. “Sorry! I’m almost sure it’s not permanent.”

“ _Almost_?!” Allen turned to him with reproach. He grabbed Lavi’s hand with his free one and pulled.

“Ow! Hey, that hurts!”

“Sorry,” Allen mumbled, methodically trying to wedge his fingers under Lavi’s. The force tugged painfully at his skin, but didn’t detach them. Finally, he gave up.

“Let’s get out of here first,” Allen sighed, defeated. “Then we can think of something.”

Easier said than done. Maneuvering in the cluttered passage was hard even without having to hold hands; and as if that wasn’t enough, the candle indeed flickered out a few seconds later. When they finally made it out of the storeroom, covered in dust and bruises from bumping against the shelves, Allen let out a deep sigh of relief. It was infinitely better to walk down the wide corridors, and so they managed to get back to Komui’s office in record time, quickly matching their step and only occasionally pulling each other ahead.

“Good, he’s not there.” Allen peeked around the corner. “Quick, let’s leave it on his desk and—”

“You know, you don’t have to sneak around my office like this, you can hop right in.”

Allen stumbled back in surprise, bumping into Lavi and nearly shrieking – not a reaction one generally aimed for while trying to remain beyond suspicion.

“What is it, boys?” Komui stared at them over his glasses and Allen managed to marginally calm down. The supervisor didn’t look like he was out for blood. Yet.

“We were just…” Lavi started, trailing off just for a moment as his brain scrambled for a good excuse. But before he came up with any, Komui’s face lit up unexpectedly.

“Oh, I know!” He clapped his hands with a smile. “I bet you wanted to see the gift Lenalee gave me, right? Of course you did! Come in, come in, no need to be shy!” He waved them into the office and headed straight for the desk. Allen and Lavi exchanged puzzled looks. The situation was far from ideal, but still they shuffled into the office, hoping that Komui’s brotherly obsession will buy them enough time to figure something out.

“Where did I put it?” Komui rummaged through the mess on his desk, making the stacks of paper sway dangerously. “It was right he— oh, here it is! Isn’t it perfect? Just look at it!”

Allen and Lavi looked.

And looked.

And they looked for a long moment, but still couldn’t believe what they saw.

“It's exactly like my old one, only much bigger,” Komui sang, cradling a shiny new coffee mug to his chest. “It holds more coffee, so I can be even more productive and brilliant at work! Isn’t my sweet Lenalee the most caring, thoughtful and lovely person?”

“Yes… She sure is…” Allen said weakly, feeling his knees buckle a bit. Lavi squeezed his hand, nodding vehemently.

“Just don’t get any ideas, you two.” Komui’s dreamy eyes sharpened instantly. “Now, off you pop. Dismissed! Have a nice day!”

Allen and Lavi walked out of the office and down the corridor; as soon as they rounded the corner, Allen gave up and slumped along the wall right to the floor, inadvertently pulling Lavi with him.

“That was… unexpected,” he muttered.

“Sure was.” Lavi nodded, a hint of amusement in his eye.

“I can’t believe we did all this for nothing,” Allen groaned, bumping the back of his head against the cold stone. Lavi patted him on the shoulder.

“Cheer up, Beansprout. There are upsides, too.”

“I know,” Allen sighed, too shaken to react to the nickname. “The headquarters are still standing and neither of us is being chased by a bloodthirsty robot. I have to admit, that part went better than I expected.”

“Agreed.” Lavi grinned. “But there’s another thing, too.”

“What is it?” Allen turned his head to look at him, eyebrows knitted together in surprise.

Lavi’s grin grew even wider as he gave their glued hands a small shake.

“Now we get to spend more time together, right?”


	3. A moment in time

Time stood still.

Or at least it felt that way to Allen, as the bus hasn’t budged an inch since it turned the corner and joined the heavy morning traffic in the city centre. A handful of lucky cyclists passed them by, meandering between the vehicles, but other than that, the entire street was stuck in place as far as he could see.

Allen checked the time on his mobile again, cursing himself in his thoughts for leaving his earphones at home. He left in such a hurry that he barely managed to grab some breakfast, and now it turned out it was all for nothing – he was going to be late anyway. Cross will get mad…

Allen leaned back, stretching his stiffened legs under the seat in front of him. He was still groggy and longing for a nap, but he couldn’t afford to sleep through his stop, even though right now there wasn’t much hope that the bus would ever reach it.

Suddenly, Allen felt his seat rock. He sat up, surprised. The seat rocked again. And again. And again, accompanied by soft thuds reverberating up and down Allen’s spine.

“Timothy, please stop kicking the seats,” said a distressed female voice behind him.

“But I’m bored!” a child’s voice whined in answer. “Why aren’t we moving? I—want—to—go!” he complained, punctuating each word with a kick for emphasis.

Allen sighed. This was just great. A textbook example of a Monday morning.

He looked around in search for another seat. The upper deck wasn’t exactly packed, but half-full in this peculiar way that created an illusion of a crowd, with most of the double seats taken by single passengers. Allen pondered briefly the pros and cons of staying under the onslaught of kicks versus giving up his window seat and moving to sit with a random stranger. The choice was obvious. With a sigh, Allen leaned back again, resting his head against the window and silently urging the bus to press on.

It worked… Somewhat. Two minutes later, the bus groaned, hitched forward, rolled for about half of its length and came to a standstill again. Allen watched with envy as the other lane flowed by swiftly, until another bus lined up with his and stopped there, blocking his view. He looked away, the sudden eye contact with the passengers across the lane making him feel awkward. He fixed his gaze on the headrest before him, when a movement in the corner of his eye captured his attention.

Some guy from the other bus was waving at him.

No, not at him, Allen chided himself quickly. Why would he wave at him? They didn’t know each other – Allen was pretty sure he would remember this characteristic mop of red hair. He stole a look around the deck, trying to figure out the addressee of this gesture. No one seemed to be reacting, or even noticing anything at all. The waving increased. Allen looked back at the guy and pointed at himself with a frown, pulling his face into a confused, questioning look. _Me?_

The guy stopped waving and beamed a ridiculous smile, making guns out of his fingers and pointing at Allen as well: _Yes, you_.

Allen raised his eyebrows in a polite surprise. _What?_

The redhead shrugged, still smiling – seriously, why was he smiling like that? Was it because— because of _what Allen looked like_?

Allen turned away, his hand automatically coming up to comb at his hair in a futile attempt to cover his face with the white strands. He wished he had taken a seat on the other side, so his scar wouldn’t be facing out to the street and giving nosy redheads a reason to stare. He glanced out of the window. The guy still didn’t pry his eyes off him… Or his _eye_ , actually; only now did Allen notice the white medical eyepatch peeking from under the red bangs. The smile hadn’t falter, either, and the longer Allen looked at the stranger, the bolder it grew. There was no mockery in it, and although he couldn’t completely read it, Allen felt it was a good kind of smile.

The guy leaned his forehead against the window and put his hand up, palm open flat against the glass. Allen mimicked the gesture; it was a bit like giving a long-distance high-five, and he finally found it in himself to smile back. He felt a little weird, but the look on the redhead’s face was worth it – both surprised and absolutely delighted, the sole green eye lighting up in an instant.

Another kick in the back of his seat brought Allen back to reality. He shot an annoyed glance to his side, as if his eyes could drill through the headrest straight to the unbearable kid and his hapless sitter. On the other side of the window, the redhead chuckled as Allen rolled his eyes and threw himself back against his assaulted seat. Allen pursed his lips and gave him a brief, exaggerated glare: _That’s not funny_.

The redhead nodded in answer. He sighed theatrically, his shoulders heaving, and pointed behind himself with a tortured expression. Allen’s eyes followed the motion and he winced sympathetically at the sight of a gloomy, long-haired teenager clad in black, kicking the back of the redhead’s seat to the rhythm of what Allen could only imagine to be violent heavy metal seething through his flimsy earbuds. _I know your pain_ , said the redhead’s crooked smile, and when the bus jerked again, getting ready for another spurt of action, Allen felt a pang of disappointment. He was actually starting to have fun.

His bus moved ahead in a snail pace, the other following nearly head-to-head. Allen watched as the redhead fogged the window with his breath and started scribbling something in the mist. When they stopped at the next lights, he caught a glimpse of the writing before it cleared, the first letter accidentally left unflipped in the hurry: COFFEE?

Allen looked over at the redhead, stumped. He motioned his finger between the two of them, trying to wordlessly ask the stranger if he meant what Allen thought he did. The redhead nodded so vehemently Allen feared his head might fall off his neck. Well, that was unexpected; but the guy seemed friendly and nice, and if they were managing to understand each other so well through two glass panes, it would be interesting to find out what it was like to actually _talk_ to him. Allen breathed on his window and quickly scrawled a smiley face, raising his thumb in approval. The redhead’s ecstatic grin rushed by him as Allen’s bus sped up, spurting ahead and leaving the other behind.

Allen almost groaned out loud. He pressed his forehead against the glass, trying to peer back, but he couldn’t spot the redhead or the bus anymore. He slid down in his seat, a sinking feeling in his stomach. Of course this was too good.

Each time his bus started to come to a halt, Allen craned his neck in anticipation. Three red lights later, he was barely blinking back tears of frustration. The traffic had let up and they were going faster now, but the other bus was still nowhere in sight – hell, maybe they weren’t even on the same street anymore; Allen didn’t catch the number, but with so many lines it was naive to assume they would both follow the same route. It had probably taken a turn on the last intersection, or even the one before it, or—

A mop of red hair shot into his view again. Allen jumped in his seat, his face glued to the window, eyes searching for the lone green eye. As soon as they met, the redhead pressed an open notebook up to the glass, huge numbers scrawled across both pages in sloppy handwriting. He gestured with his other hand, shaking his outstretched thumb and pinky in the sign of a receiver. Allen didn’t have to be told twice – or _told_ at all; he yanked his mobile out of his pocket and started hitting the digits frantically, glancing between his screen, the paper, and the redhead’s panicked face. He saved the number and opened up a new message, the uncertain words completely mismatched with the crazy pace in which he typed them: _Umm... Hey there?_

He pressed “Send” just as the next stop loomed in sight. The bus changed the lane, putting more distance between them. Just before it entered the lay-by, Allen saw the redhead look up from his phone and give him a thumbs-up; then his bus dashed ahead, leaving Allen behind at the stop.

Allen felt his body slump in the seat; he didn’t realize how much he had tensed up. He pressed his head to the window, feeling the veins on his temple beat against the cold glass. He heard some commotion behind him as the distressed sitter escorted her overactive charge down the aisle and off the deck. The opening door hissed downstairs. Just two... No, three more stops before he gets off. _I hope no one sits next to me_.

The phone in his hand buzzed happily with a new message.


	4. Enthusiasm

Allen was excited. That much was clear.

What exactly was he so excited about was beyond Lavi’s comprehension, but still he just shrugged and played along with it. The sooner they got it over with, the better, he thought.

When they first went to see the apartment, Allen seemed to be everywhere at once, looking from room to room in between thanking Lenalee time and again for renting  it out to them. (Meanwhile, Lavi inspected the sooty trails on the ceiling and wondered what on earth was going on there before Komui moved out for work).

When they were jotting down all the stuff they needed for renovation, Allen would get all fired up, rattling off a long list of things Lavi was almost sure they could do without. (Still, he didn’t have the heart to cross them out.)

When they were driving to the store, Allen was tapping his foot to the music and humming under his breath, checking the list for the umpfteenth time and clicking his pen in agitation. (And all along the way Lavi pondered how they were supposed to fit everything into the car.)

The moment the door slid open before them, Lavi seized Allen firmly by the hood of his jacket.

“Allen, please,” he said in a tired voice as they crossed the threshold, “wait. Take it easy, man. You’ve been acting like a newborn corgi pup all damn week.”

“Sorry.” Allen went limp and slowed down to match his pace with Lavi, but the happy bounce still didn’t leave his step. “I can’t help it. This is great!”

Lavi shook his head and let go of the hood, only to throw his arm around Allen’s shoulders.

“I didn’t know you liked playing house so much,” he teased.

“Why, you don’t?” Allen looked up at him with a hint of disappointment.

Lavi sighed.

“That’s just a hassle. For all we know, we might move out again next year, so why make such an effort and settle down in the first place?”

“I don’t know, maybe so that you could feel at home at least for a while?” Allen shrugged under his hand. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt at home anywhere,” Lavi muttered, his eye fixed on the toes of his dirty sneakers. Allen pressed lightly into his side, nudging him with his elbow.

“Well, then it’s high time to try and change it, right?” He smiled and stepped aside to pull a cart out of the line by the wall. “Come on, let’s choose the paint first, that should get you in the right mood!”

“Just don’t get lost! I don’t wanna spend here any longer than I have to!” Lavi called after him as Allen sped down the aisle, nearly crashing into the lawnmowers.

Even with Allen’s sense of direction, it wasn’t hard to find the paint section. It spanned nearly a third of the entire wall just a couple aisles into the store. Lavi whistled.

“That’s one impressive rainbow. Any suggestions?”

“Well, we only need to repaint our bedrooms, so just pick whatever suits you best.” Allen made his way up and down along the shelves until he found the right hue. “I think I’ll go with a blue.”

“Blue?” Lavi rolled his eye. “That’s boring, but all right, do what you want, it’s your bedroom. But I want mine red!” he declared, striding over to another section of the shelf.

Allen pulled a face.

“Are you sure? You’ll go crazy after a month of looking at it, never mind sleeping there.”

“Then I’ll just crash with you and your calming blue,” Lavi groaned, bending to take a huge can of paint from the lowest shelf. “You told me to pick whatever I wanted. I decided, I want it red. Or rather… _Effervescent Crepuscule_ , whatever that’s supposed to mean.” He frowned at the label.

“All right, if you like it,” Allen’s face lit up again before he turned back to scan the shelf. “Hey, can you come here for a second?”

“Yeah, what is it?” Lavi dropped his paint into the cart and joined Allen in front of the blues.

“I’m in two minds,” Allen huffed, trailing his finger to and fro on the sample palette. “I like both _Cerulean Welkin_ and… _Shattered Speculum_? Who _names_ these? So, what do you think?”

“Let’s just take the one with the most wicked name.” Lavi leaned over his shoulder to study the samples. “Seriously though, I like the first one.”

“ _Shattered Speculum_ it is!” Allen climbed on his toes to get the can out. Lavi glanced at the sample sheet, confused.

“I meant the other one.”

“I heard you.” Allen wrestled the can into the cart and raised his head to meet the nonplussed green stare. “Lavi, you’ve just decided to paint your room with the blood of angry men. I asked for advice on what _not_ to get.”

“Hey, stop dissing my effervescent creepster!” Lavi burst with mocked offense, aiming a jab at Allen’s ribs. “Are you done here? Can we go now?”

“We’re done with the paint, yes.” Allen started pushing the cart with one hand, the other hunting for the shopping list in his pocket. “Now we just need some paint thinner – okay, here it is – some masking foil and a paint roller. Oh, and a new lamp for your room, because the one Komui had there has… melted?”

“Exploded,” Lavi corrected, steering Allen into the aisle with painting tools. “Lenalee was surprised, too. Hell, after all of that she should be surprised she still _has_ that apartment at all. We’re lucky.”

“You’re starting to like this, aren’t you?” Allen smiled, stopping to put two rolls of masking foil into the cart and moving to the other side of the aisle where he spotted some brushes.

“Maybe a little.” Lavi shrugged. “Hey, can we get this?” he asked, picking up a huge hammer from the crate at the end of the next aisle.

“What do you need that for?” Allen looked at him over the paint rollers he was comparing.

“I dunno.” Lavi gave the rubber head an experimental pat. “Might come in handy. I love it. I’m keeping it.”

“Certainly not.” Allen pushed the cart away just as Lavi tried to put the hammer in. The redhead pouted.

“Come on, it will be perfect for fixing our beds back together when we move the furniture.”

“We can do it with a normal hammer as well.”

“It can double as a blunt weapon! I’ll keep you safe at night!”

“Lavi.”

“All right, geez” Lavi sighed. “Can’t a man have his fun?”

“You can have fun with this.” Allen tossed him a fluffy paint roller, carefully steering the loaded cart towards the brightly illuminated island in the far corner. “Come on now, let’s go get you a lamp!”

“Yeah, whatever,” Lavi grumbled, running the roller up and down Allen’s back as they walked.

The closer they were to the lighting section, the brighter it got.

“How am I supposed to choose if I can’t see anything?” Lavi squinted as they left the cart at the edge of the island and stepped into the narrow pathways among dozens of glass lampshades. He trailed close behind Allen, trying his best not to knock anything down.

“Close your eyes and pick something at random. You can’t get much worse than with the paint you chose on purpose.”

“Will you lay off that already?” Lavi flicked Allen in the back of his head and nearly bumped into him as the other suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“Oh my god, Lavi, look at this!”

Puzzled, Lavi leaned forward over Allen’s shoulder.

“I don’t think this one gives enough light.”

“If you don't want it, _I_ will take it!”

“Allen, no. You don’t need a lava lamp.”

“Well, _you_ don’t need a giant rubber mallet.” Allen turned around and pointed an accusatory finger to the hammer sticking out between the paint cans in their cart. “When did you even manage to put it there?”

Lavi slowly rubbed his hand across his face.

“All right. You can keep the lamp if I can keep the hammer. Deal?”

“Deal!” Allen beamed, snatching the lamp and holding it close as he weaved his way through the sea of lamps. “Now, let’s find something for you. It has to be bright, so you won’t ruin your sight while reading, and it should have a nice warm light, and…”

Lavi followed Allen with his eye, half-listening; the lamps were near blinding and his head was starting to hurt. Still, something about watching Allen wander around excitedly in the white-and-golden glow, almost unreal against the shine, made him crack a tired smile.

“Maybe I should just put _you_ in my room instead.”

“Huh?” Allen broke off whatever he was saying to send him a confused glance.

“You’re _glowing_ ,” Lavi explained, reaching out to ruffle his hair. Allen just snorted, but didn’t lean away from the touch.

“I told you, I can’t help it. We’ve found a great place, and we’re moving in together, and we get to have all the fun making ourselves at home! That’s all the reason to be glowing.”

“If you say so.” Lavi took his hand away and squeezed himself past Allen as something behind the younger boy’s back got his attention. “Hey, I like this one! How about this one?”

“It’s… shaped like a giant panda. You’re just doing this to annoy me, right?”

“All right, all right. I’ll keep looking.” Lavi shook his head with a laugh, venturing deeper into the dazzling light.

Maybe this will work out in the long run. Maybe not. There was no way of telling. But Allen was right: it was worth trying to make the most of it while it lasted.

For now, the future looked bright.


	5. Summer haze

Leaves fluttered in the wind, making the fine web of shadows on the ground ripple like fish scale. Allen shuddered as the gust skimmed over his wet skin. A long bath in the lake helped to ward off the heat of the afternoon, but drip-drying half-naked in the deep shade of the trees didn’t feel as pleasant.

Still, he felt too heavy to get up and look for a patch of sun. Sluggishness spread over his bones, making his limbs stiff and tired. Allen lay on his back, staring up at the green canopy riddled with brilliant holes that scorched white flecks on the back of his eyelids whenever he blinked. Next to him, Lavi was sprawled on his side with his back turned to Allen and his nose in a book. This was a well-deserved rest, and one they really needed after the strain of the last few days on a grueling mission. Allen could almost feel the fatigue seeping into the grass along with the water dripping from his body. He closed his eyes, putting an arm across his face to block out the blazing light, and slowly started to drift away.

As soon as he let his mind wander, it was taken over by the recent events. _Screams. Blood_. Images flashed by faster than he could focus on them, fast enough to make him dizzy. His stomach tightened painfully and Allen took a sharp breath, forcing himself to snap out of it and remember: _this was over, they were fine now_. His eyes flew open, only to squint against the flickering flecks of sunshine.

Allen turned on his side. His face came just inches from Lavi’s back, still dripping wet from the swimming. For a brief moment, he wanted to speak up, break the buzzing silence and get his friend’s attention, but then Allen realized he didn’t really know what to say. He didn’t feel much like talking, anyway. The sweltering weather was making him groggy, but he didn’t dare to try and doze off again.

Instead he just lay there, watching the water slowly drip down Lavi’s back. The sight absorbed him; the trees around him and the sparkling lake slowly became a greenish blur as his mind focused on the drops zig-zagging across Lavi’s shoulder blades, leaving a trail of smaller droplets as they slid by. Allen reached out and lazily traced one of the trails with his finger; the drop stuck to his fingertip and Allen dragged it along, drawing wet patterns on Lavi’s skin, smearing the drops and scribbling without aim.

Lavi didn’t react – maybe he had nodded off with more luck. That wouldn’t be surprising, especially in this weather. Allen brought the wet fingers to his lips, plucking at the chapped skin. The touch of water on his dry tongue was refreshing. It turned some switch in his drowsy brain, and half-registering what he was doing, he leaned forward and lightly pressed his mouth to Lavi’s back. A rush of heat flushed up to his face at the contact, even hotter than the air around him. Slowly, he slid his lips along the spine, licking the water off the cool skin. It tasted sweet and sour and _good_ , and Allen moved up and up and up to the nape of Lavi’s neck, pushing the wet hair out of the way and nibbling at the water dripping from the ends. Red strands tickled his closed eyelids. His hand moved up to rest on Lavi’s shoulder, thumb slowly stroking the freckled skin. His mind whirred, the touch and the heat hazing his thoughts, and it was only a soft moan from Lavi that finally shook him out of the daze.

Allen pulled away in an instant. The sound was too quiet, too brief to read into its meaning; it made his heart sink. Between the two of them, Lavi was never one to shy away from affection; and though Allen was reluctant to admit it, even before himself, the redhead’s playful words and little touches were getting through to him. Somewhere along the way, he went from tolerating them to playing along, then to seeking them out, and he could feel from the looks Lavi would give him in those moments that he wasn’t alone in his reasons for that.

But maybe he was wrong.

Allen let out a deep breath, eyes opening slowly, afraid of what he might see. His face still hovered just inches from the back of Lavi’s head, but Lavi didn’t make the slightest move to lean away or even turn around. Allen gingerly slid his hand from Lavi’s arm, but the older boy reached up to keep it there.

“Don’t stop,” he muttered.

This was all he needed. Hope and relief swept over him in a surging wave, washing away the doubts he’s been harbouring. Months of tension that he struggled to keep in check broke the dam, pushing him through the edge. Allen pressed his face into Lavi’s hair, kissing his neck just under the hairline. Now that he was fully awake, the longing for closeness grew even more intense, clutching his lungs and ripping in his stomach. He tightened his grip on Lavi’s shoulder and pulled, and not a second later Lavi was sprawled on his back with Allen straddling his hips, hands planted firmly on both sides of Lavi’s head. He leaned in closer, bringing his mouth to Lavi’s ear and noticing his eye widen, staring right at him. For a moment, he hesitated.

“Still want me to go on?” Allen whispered and felt Lavi shiver under him. It came out more cocky than he intended, the excitement and nerves taking over his voice.

“Yes,” was the weak answer, no more than a low murmur that Allen felt rather than heard.

“Good,” he whispered again, catching Lavi’s earlobe between his lips. He sucked at it lightly, running his tongue around the small silver earring, the metallic taste tingling in his mouth. Lavi took a wavering breath as Allen dragged his lips down the side of his neck, stopping to place a fluttering kiss in the crook between his collarbones and moving lower down the chest.

“Get back here.” Suddenly Allen felt Lavi’s hand on the back of his head, fingers threading in his hair, pushing him closer gently but steadily. He smiled against the cold freckled skin and slowly made his way back up, lips lingering on every inch he covered.

“You missed me already?” he laughed nervously, kissing Lavi’s throat and his Adam’s apple, throbbing under the touch.

“Miss you all the time.” Lavi’s answer vibrated into his mouth and Allen finally raised his head to look at him. Green eye stared back into his, half-lidded and glistening. The hand in his hair slid down to his cheek, thumb skimming over the lines of his scar, tracing the cursed pattern as if trying to rub it away.

Allen smiled. The gentle caress didn’t stop as he leaned down and slowly pressed his lips to Lavi’s. They were as dry as his, cracked skin and a thin line of a recent split right by the corner. The fingers on his face slipped further down, running along his jawline to cup his chin and pull him even closer.

He deepened the kiss, tugging at Lavi’s lower lip. The kiss Lavi gave him in return was soft and full of yearning; his other hand moved up shyly to rest on the small of Allen’s back. Still leaning over on his hands, Allen felt his arms start to quiver. Elbows gave up on him and he collapsed onto Lavi’s chest, breath hitching in his lungs.

He pressed into the body under him, stretching out and tangling their legs together, one knee pushing its way between Lavi’s thighs. Lavi sighed around his mouth, his lips moving slightly against Allen’s as he gasped his name, almost muffled by the insistent kiss. He wrapped his arms around Allen’s waist, fingers brushing gently along the sides – and then squeezed Allen’s knee between his legs, pushing his hips up and Allen _lost it_.

His hands moved for Lavi’s head, seizing it firmly on both sides, thumbs pressed to the temples, fingers digging into the scalp and tugging at the wet red strands. Lavi moaned into his mouth again and Allen took this chance to push his tongue past his lips; the warmth of the soft flesh he tasted was intoxicating. The hands on his back trembled and started to wander, stroking up and down along his spine. Allen broke off the kiss and trailed lower, tipping Lavi’s head back to reach his throat again, pressing his open mouth to the taut skin and lightly dragging his teeth across it.

“Allen,” Lavi gasped, and this time there was an edge of panic to it that made Allen stop and pull back again. He looked down at the flushed face, single green eye wide and misty and lips parted in an unasked question, and it suddenly hit him that while the boy underneath him was capable of taking so much in a fight, he wasn’t used to such intense intimacy.

“I’m sorry.” Allen leaned over and gently stroked his freckled cheek. Lavi leaned into the touch, closing his eye and relaxing visibly.

“It’s okay.” His hands came to rest on Allen’s hips, lazily thumbing the exposed skin. Allen smiled timidly and leaned in to give Lavi one last kiss – a short, shy peck on the mouth. Then he slid off and curled up by his side, a part of him still craving the contact and affection. Lavi wrapped one arm around his shoulders and Allen pressed closer, putting his head on Lavi’s chest. The warm body burned against his cheek; Lavi’s fingertips lightly brushed his arm. The day was still hot and humid, and full of heavy golden sunshine that stuck to his skin like honey. Allen closed his eyes, finding himself drifting off again.

“Hey, Allen?” Lavi’s voice reverberated in his ear with a low murmur.

“Mmm?”

“Now I’m going to miss you even more.”


	6. Introduction

Lavi eyed the door with suspicion. It was very sturdy and very dirty, with cracked brown paint peeling off to show faded remains of god-knows-how-many older layers underneath. It was also the only door on the top floor of the dim staircase, so there was no way he got it wrong.

He pressed the doorbell, straining his ears for its faint ringing inside the apartment, but he didn’t hear anything. Of course. This place didn’t look like it would have doorbells in working order. Lavi rolled his eye and knocked hard on the door, the sound echoing in the buzzing silence. Flakes of paint fell off under his hand, twirling down to rest on the worn doormat. Lavi waited, leaning on the frame and idly kicking the doorstep with the toes of his boot. No answer. After a few moments, he knocked again; this time, he heard a thud and some shuffling, and then the door creaked open.

Instead of a maniac with an axe that he was half-expecting by this point, Lavi was greeted by a beaming smile of his friend-slash-coursemate-slash-hopeless crush. He smiled back, pushing himself off the frame and feeling his knees buckle treacherously.

“Hi, Allen,” he said, following in. “Your doorbell is broken.”

 _Smooth_.

“Yeah, I know,” Allen replied as Lavi wrestled his heavy boots off in the narrow corridor. “I called for someone to come and fix it, but they haven’t got back to me yet. Did you get here without problems?”

“More or less, aside from the chick that almost ran me over at the garage exit. Maybe she got your doorbell guy, too.”

“Blue Dodge?” Allen asked, slightly amused. “That’s Klaud,” he explained when Lavi nodded with interest, sensing a story. “She’s cool, but she drives like a monkey. She used to be a stunt driver, actually. Do you want some tea?”

“That would be nice,” Lavi nodded again, still smiling like an idiot. He followed Allen to the kitchen, but the other boy stopped him at the door.

“Go and make yourself at home, okay? There’s hardly room for one person here,” he said apologetically, pointing to the open door at the other end of the corridor. “My room is over there. It won’t be a minute.”

“Okay.” Lavi backed off with regret squirming in his gut, as the prospect of spending a few moments with Allen in the confined space of the tiny kitchen was more than enticing. Instead, he walked down the corridor and slid into the room.

It took him a lot of effort not to feel like a creep. Despite Allen’s clear instructions to go inside, the sense of invading his privacy was overwhelming. Lavi hovered awkwardly by the door, not sure what to do with himself. Part of him wanted _badly_ to look around, to soak up the bits and pieces of Allen’s everyday life, to take a peek at what he was like outside the lectures and classes; another part of him was holding the first part by the collar and very strictly wagging its finger at it.

“Is Earl Grey all right with you?” Allen called over the hum of the electric kettle, almost making Lavi jump out of his skin.

“Sure!” he called back, finally finding it in himself to move from his spot and venture deeper into the room in hopes to at least try and look natural. Off to his right there was a tall bookcase. Lavi inched over to it, his eye sliding over the books and CDs it was filled with. Most of them didn’t have titles on their spines, which must have made staring at them look quite stupid. There were also a few knickknacks that looked like souvenirs, a pair of cacti in a small pot, and a very unsettling porcelain figurine of a clown. Lavi slowly made his way along the bookcase, taking all of this in, until he was stopped dead in his tracks by something he didn’t expect.

Sitting on the shelf in front of him was the fattest cat he’s ever seen.

Lavi wasn’t very fond of animals. They were shady even as a concept. Who in their right mind would trust a toothy, clawed, unpredictable creature to live under the same roof with them? And why would anyone want to waste their money and living space to keep an ungrateful ball of fur that didn’t give you anything but problems in return?

True to the spirit of the action-reaction law, animals weren’t very fond of Lavi, either.

The cat was huge, yellow, and absolutely pissed off. His tail twitched and swayed from side to side, bristled up like an agitated brush. Two round, unblinking eyes stared directly at Lavi, following his every move. Lavi slowly backed away under the amber gaze. Was he supposed to look away? Or did you only do that with dogs? He didn’t like the idea of taking his eye off the beast and letting it catch him off-guard. He took a couple more steps back, bumping into the desk behind him, locked in an intense stare-off. The cat lowered his head, ears flattened against the skull. Lavi didn’t have to be an expert on animal body language to know this wasn’t a good sign; it looked downright _scary_.

“You don’t take sugar, do you?” Allen entered the room with a mug in each hand and Lavi could literally feel the tension letting up like air coming out of a balloon. He leaned nonchalantly against the desk, trying to give an impression that he wasn’t about to leg it at the sight of real-life Garfield just now. The cat on the shelf relaxed visibly, though he still kept his keen eyes on Lavi.

“No, thanks. Erm… Are you allowed to keep tigers in here?” Lavi risked a joke as Allen walked over to set the mugs down on a pile of notes on his desk.

“Huh?” Allen cocked an eyebrow at him, but his face lit up with understanding as the cat jumped down from his spot and started to rub his body all over Allen’s legs.

“Oooh, look who came to meet you!” Allen cooed, scooping the cat in his arms and nuzzling his head. “Lavi, this is Timcanpy. He’s not a tiger. Tim, this is Lavi. He came here to help me study. Shake hands, gentlemen.”

“He does that?” Lavi eyed the yellow monster uncertainly. “I thought it was a dog thing.”

“Most cats don’t like it when you touch their paws, but Tim doesn’t mind,” Allen explained, tilting the cat slightly towards Lavi. “Go on, try.”

Lavi slowly extended his hand – he wasn’t _afraid_ , okay, just… _careful_ – and gently squeezed one of Timcanpy’s front paws between his fingers. It was incredibly soft on both sides, with fluffy fur on top and squishy beans underneath. It felt funny. But nice.

“Hi, Tim,” Lavi said quietly, bracing himself for claws coming out at him from between those deceptively fuzzy toes.

Tim just sneezed.

“You didn’t tell me you had a cat,” Lavi turned to Allen, quickly letting go of the paw – just in case.

“I didn’t?” Allen looked up at him with concern. “Sorry, I was sure I’d mentioned it. You’re not allergic, are you?”

“No, it’s all right,” Lavi waved his hand. He hoped he wasn’t. He had never come close enough to a cat to find out. “So, Timcanpy, yeah? What’s with the name?”

“I found him in the cellar when he was a kitten.” Allen pressed his face into the fur on Timcanpy’s neck. “He was abandoned. I took the name from an ad in the newspaper he was wrapped in.”

“Oh,” Lavi sighed eloquently. The sight of his friend snuggling this monstrous fluffball and the soft edge to his voice when he talked about it made his heart melt a little. “He was really lucky, then.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Allen mumbled and suddenly looked up with an enthusiastic grin. “Do you want to hold him?”

“I—I’m not sure…” Lavi stuttered, wide-eyed with panic. “I mean, I’ve never held a cat, I don’t wanna hurt him on accident.”

Tim yawned, baring his teeth. They were really sharp and there was a lot of them.

“He’ll be fine,” Allen assured in a tone that suggested Lavi should be more worried about himself. Or maybe that was just his imagination. “Here, put your arm like this, I’ll hand him over to you.”

“Um… Okay.” Lavi bent his arm in a cradle and froze as Allen inched closer to him, carefully placing Timcanpy between them. Their hands brushed together and Lavi nearly dropped the damn thing; he quickly pressed the warm, radiating body to his chest, wondering if the animal could feel how fast his heart was racing. He stood face to face with Allen, divided just by a metric ton of cat and nearly shaking. Timcanpy squirmed a little in his arms, probably sensing his uneasiness.

“Are you holding him?” Allen asked. Lavi nodded and instantly wished he hadn’t, as Allen let go and stepped aside, breaking the contact and leaving him on the mercy of his pet.

The monster was lighter than he looked, but he was still a hell to hold, mostly because he just wouldn’t keep still. He wiggled his tail and craned his neck, trying to sniffle the inside of Lavi’s ear for some reason. It tickled. Lavi turned his head and Tim booped their noses together, all cool and wet and fuzzy.

“He likes you,” Allen laughed, reaching out to scratch the cat between the ears.

“You think so?” Lavi beamed. He heard people joking that you couldn’t be friends with a cat owner if the cat didn’t like you; he wasn’t sure how much truth there was to it, but with this particular cat owner, he’d prefer to be on the safe side.

“Sure! He’s giving you smooches,” Allen pointed out, and Lavi was just on the verge of saying something stupid about second-hand kisses.

And then Timcanpy extended his claws and slashed him right across the face.

Lavi screamed, more with shock than with pain. The beast shot out of his arms and ran out of the room, hissing like an angry kettle. Allen followed him with his eyes, looked back at Lavi and back at the door again, unsure what to do. From behind the wall came a muffled sound of something – many somethings – falling to the floor.

“Are you okay?” Allen asked at last, deciding to deal with the problem nearest to him first.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lavi muttered, cupping his injured cheek with both hands. When he took them away, Allen winced.

“This doesn’t look fine. Let me see it.”

“What?” Lavi looked down at his hand and noticed dark red streaks staining his fingers. “No, seriously! Don’t bother, I’m all good!” he protested, quickly trying to wipe his hands on his jeans. Allen sent him a disapproving glance and grabbed his wrist in a firm grip Lavi couldn’t resist even if he wanted to. And he really, really didn’t.

“Come on, we have to take care of this,” Allen said, leading Lavi out of the room and into the bathroom on the other side of the corridor. When he opened the cabinet over the basin, Lavi found himself staring at his own reflection in the mirror door; it wasn’t a pretty sight. Half of his face was red with smeared blood oozing from under his left eye. It actually looked kind of cool, like he was some barbarian Viking warrior fresh from a fight, if only Viking warriors wore breathable medical eyepatches.

“Sit down,” Allen ordered, closing the cabinet and pushing him gently onto the closed lid of the toilet, a first aid kit in his hand.

“It’s just a scratch,” Lavi said for the record, his objections waning as Allen leaned over him with a piece of gauze.

“Better safe than sorry,” Allen muttered, dabbing at Lavi’s cheek with long, careful touches. His face was too close; Lavi closed his eye and breathed slowly, trying to overcome the sudden tingling on his lips. He felt the rough fingers of Allen’s left hand on his chin, holding his face steady and slightly up to the light; Allen’s breath swept lightly over his eyelid. Lavi clenched his hands on the toilet bowl and forced himself to relax, letting Allen fuss over him for two or three minutes longer.

“Done.” Allen’s voice woke him from the trance. He opened his eye just as Allen was throwing the dirty pieces of gauze to the waste bin.

“Thanks. You seriously didn’t have to.” Lavi smiled; the scratches felt weirdly stiff and stung a little. He raised his hand to touch them and noticed Allen’s worried glance.

“I’m really sorry about that. I hope it doesn’t leave a scar.”

“Come on, scars are sexy,” Lavi blurted and immediately felt a hot wave creeping up his neck once he realized what he just said. His eye hovered on the deep red mark on Allen’s face. Allen let out an embarrassed laugh and quickly reached up to put away the first aid kit, nearly pushing his entire head into the cabinet.

Their tea was still warm when they went back into Allen’s room and finally sat down with the materials they were supposed to revise. Allen’s notes were a mess; Lavi shook his head over the random keywords connected with a maze of tangled arrows and the neat handwriting that drifted off mid-sentence, giving way to indecipherable scribbles half-covered with tiny pictures and doodles. No wonder Allen had to ask him for help.

“I clearly saw your _body_ sitting right next to me at the lectures, so where the heck was your _mind_ then?” Lavi teased with a smile as Allen scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Not that far away, really…”

“Far enough not to catch up, though. Let’s just use my notes, this way I can explain it better to you,” Lavi decided, pulling a wad of papers from his bag and spreading them out on the floor to sort them. He was almost done when a soft meowing off to his right stole his attention.

“You came to apologize?” Allen asked the purring pile of yellow that nested in his lap. “Hey now, don’t be a meanie,” he clicked his tongue when Timcanpy rolled around, pointedly turning his tail at Lavi.

“He doesn’t like me,” Lavi sighed, smiling unwittingly. The way Allen talked to his pet was _adorable_ , even if this pet was a complete monster.

“He’s jealous,” Allen laughed, and Lavi found himself swelling with some stupid kind of pride. “I still love you, Tim, but you can’t explain the Great Vowel Shift to me. Go make friends with Lavi, okay?”

Tim gave Lavi a taxing amber glance before reluctantly leaving his cosy spot. Lavi slowly held out an open hand; the cat approached him, low on his legs, and sniffed the tips of his fingers. After a moment of careful inspection, he bumped his head into Lavi’s palm and walked under it, essentially petting himself against it. Lavi stroke him gently between the ears with one finger. Timcanpy didn’t object, and he didn’t look like he was going to assault him again, either. Encouraged, Lavi petted him some more; Allen scooted closer to them and started to run his hand over Tim’s body as well. His fingers swept lightly against Lavi’s hand and Lavi felt an almost electrical bolt – or maybe it was from all the static in Timcanpy’s fur. They both kept petting the cat for a while, running into each other again every now and then. Tim plopped down on the floor and turned to show his belly, blinking and purring with delight.

“See? He does like you.” Allen pointed out. “Bring him some tuna next time, that will get him warmed up to you.”

Lavi looked up at him.

 _Next time_? Allen wanted him to come here again? But…

“The exam’s on Thursday. That’s not a lot of time for another cramming session.”

“We don’t have to cram for you to come over,” Allen kept wriggling his fingers in the fluff on Tim’s belly. “That is, if you’d like to.” He smiled and Lavi noticed the same soft look in his eyes as when he was talking to that awful – _awesome_ – cat; his hand skimmed over Lavi’s again, and this time it was _definitely_ on purpose, and all of a sudden Lavi had his heart somersaulting in his throat.

“I’d love to,” he managed, too shaken to pay attention whether he was stroking Tim’s fur or Allen’s fingers – _did it really matter at that point_? Allen’s smile grew wider and Lavi smiled back before quickly looking away and back at the golden ball at their hands.

Yeah, Tim will get a really huge can of tuna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the amazing feedback in the last week! It really means a lot ;w; I hope you enjoyed! Also, I might add the missing first day some time later - much, much later - so you might not have seen the last of this fic yet.


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